Aave Unfreezes WETH But Depositors Are Still Stuck

gm, Defiers!

TL;DR:

• Aave unfreezes WETH on Ethereum Core V3
• DoorDash, Tempo develop stablecoin payout infra
• Tangem rolls out Visa-powered USDC payments
• On-chain trading still feels clunky. It doesn’t have to be that way [MEDIA PARTNERSHIP]
• Bitcore to launch first privately-issued ILS stablecoin [MEDIA PARTNERSHIP]

Let’s dive in.

Markets are stabilizing today with total market cap above $2.63T. BTC is near $75,800 and ETH is around $2,300, both flat over the past 24 hours. The crypto Fear and Greed Index has moved from Extreme Fear to Fear this week for the first time in weeks.

In DeFi, the fallout from the April 18 exploit of a LayerZero-powered bridge on the sector’s second-largest liquid restaking protocol, Kelp, continues to dominate headlines.

Today, Aave’s said it has unfrozen Wrapped ETH on its Ethereum Core V3 market, letting users resume suppling WETH to that market. Aave had frozen WETH across multiple markets after attackers borrowed nearly $200 million in WETH using crypto they had effectively printed out of thin air.

In other Kelp-exploit-related news, L2 Arbitrum announced that its Security Council decided to freeze the over $71 million held in an Arbitrum One address that was connected to the exploit. While some questioned the move for being centralized, it also gained widespread publicly supported by multiple high-profile on-chain security experts.

In broader crypto, stablecoin rails continue to proliferate. Tempo announced development updates from some of its key design partners, including DoorDash, while hardware wallet Tangem unveiled its USDC spending feature, which lets users spend their crypto via Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Nexo is a digital wealth platform offering crypto yield up to 15% and crypto-backed credit lines from 1.9%. Join and get 30-day access to exclusive rates. Terms apply.

The RWA layer is finally here for commodities.

Most "Real World Asset" projects tokenize paper. Treasuries, receivables, stocks. AetherStrike tokenizes the asset itself.

Trillions of dollars in proven natural resources sit locked in the ground, illiquid for producers and inaccessible to most investors. Traditional financing is slow, expensive, and exclusionary.

AetherStrike converts independently certified commodity resources into regulated, on-chain securities. Each Dynamic Resource Reserve Unit (DRRU) is a direct claim on the revenue associated with one unit of in-ground resource, verifiable on Ethereum. Issued via Tokeny's T-REX protocol, certified off-chain by independent engineers.

Not a wrapper. Not a synthetic. The asset itself.

Oil sands today. Natural gas next. Precious metals, critical minerals, and forestry after.

Register your interest at aetherstrike.com.

Can privacy and transparency coexist on public blockchains? Our documentary with RektHQ and Stellar dives into crypto’s “privacy trilemma” exploring the trade-offs, innovations, and what’s at stake.

Watch the trailer here

	TICKER	VALUE	24H
	BTC	$75,941	▲ 0.65%
	ETH	$2,313.82	▲ 0.35%
	XRP	$1.43	▲ 0.40%
	BNB	$632.3	▲ 0.61%
	SOL	$85.95	▲ 0.42%

Forwarded this newsletter? Subscribe for daily insights and curated news from The Defiant team, Monday-Saturday. It’s free.

Subscribe

Quantum Could Break Bitcoin Sooner Than We Thought | Alex Pruden

In this episode of The Defiant Podcast, Camila Russo sits down with Alex Pruden, co-founder and CEO of Project 11, to unpack what the latest quantum breakthroughs actually mean for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the broader crypto ecosystem.

Alex explains why the latest research matter, how quantum computers could use Shor’s algorithm to break the cryptography behind blockchain ownership, why exposed public keys are especially vulnerable, and what “Q-Day” could look like if the industry is unprepared.

Aave Partially Unfreezes WETH After Kelp Bridge Exploit

Aave annunced earlier today, April 21, that it has unfrozen wrapped ETH (WETH) reserves on its Ethereum Core V3 market, just over 24 hours after locking down WETH across multiple markets in response to the $290 million Kelp bridge exploit.

Why it matters: Aave said it had frozen WETH across multiple markets to prevent new borrows against WETH collateral and contain contagion risk to other reserves, including stablecoins.

DoorDash Teams Up with Tempo on Stablecoin Payments for Its Global Marktplace

DoorDash, which has been a Tempo design partner since the project was first announced in September 2025, is now moving into production, targeting faster and cheaper settlements across a three-sided marketplace that previously relied on fragmented regional rails.

Why it matters: The Stripe and Paradigm-backed chain has been working with its design partners to integrate stablecoins into existing, global payment operations.

Hardware Wallet Tangem Announces Global Rollout of Its Retail Payments Service

Switzerland-headquartered hardware wallet company Tangem announced the global rollout of its retail payments product, Tangem Pay, which lets users spend USDC via Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Why it matters: Tangem told The Defiant that it plans to launch physical Visa cards connected to its self-custodial wallet later this year.

Trending on The Defiant

• DeFi Protocols Launch Joint Escape Hatch for Aave ETH Lenders and Loopers
• Aave Models $124M to $230M in Bad Debt From Kelp Exploit
• Dune Analytics Reveals 47% of LayerZero OApps Use Minimal DVN Security Following KelpDAO Hack
• Hardware Wallet Tangem Announces Global Rollout of Its Retail Payments Service
• DeFi Contagion Spreads Beyond Aave as LayerZero, Lido, Ethena Suffer Sharp Declines: Santiment
• LayerZero Post Mortem Shows Lazarus Group Stole $290M From KelpDAO via RPC Node Compromise That’s it for today — if you enjoyed this newsletter, tell your friends! https://thedefiant.io/subscribe